Weighted camera or not?

[audiotyro]

Just came from a wonderful liveaboard. Only thing was I lost my camera on the first day. I've gotten over it, but have been left with this question. I had an A70 with the DP700 housing. It was a buoyant set and I never got around to getting the weights since it didn't feel uncomfortable under water. Anyway, the camera must've (obviously!) slipped off when we did a backroll straight to a negative descent. I only realized it's absence when we met up at 40 ft. In this case, I obviously would have had a better chance of finding the camera if it had gone down too.

Is this the general rule? That cameras should be negatively buoyant.

 

[Curt Bowen]

No, you should always have a lanyard attached from the camera to you. I have a 18" lanyard attached on my chest D-ring to my camera. It never comes off until I get out of the water.

 

[aquakiwi]

Having dropped things in the past there are pros & cons to weighted or bouyant. Iv'e
lost a negatively bouyant torch down a dropoff and found a positivly bouyant supplementary lens on the surface after it had floated off.As Curt says a lanyard is
good insurance, I also make sure I can clip the rig to my BCD so I'm able to free up both hands if neccesary.

 

[Charlie99]

Slightly negative in fresh water makes it easier to do leak tests, and to keep the camera on the bottom of a rinse tank. It's also easier to handle a camera that's near neutral.

Charlie Allen